Neil Warnock: ‘I laughed my head off at what I was told about Celtic’s new manager Wilfried Nancy’
Neil Warnock has been quick to share his opinion on Celtic’s new manager Wilfried Nancy after their latest defeat.
The Bhoys’ hopes of qualifying for the next phase of the Europa League are in jeopardy after they were beaten 3-0 by Roma on home turf on Thursday night.
Pressure is already mounting on Nancy from Celtic’s fans, after the team were also defeated by Hearts in a top-of-the-table clash in the Premiership last weekend.
The Frenchman has had a rocky start since he took the reins from interim boss Martin O’Neill, and he has the Premier Sports Cup final next on the agenda this weekend.
Neil Warnock takes aim at Wilfried Nancy: ‘You just can’t do that’
Ex-Celtic legend Chris Sutton has criticised the reaction towards Nancy so far, as he is still just two games into his reign at Parkhead.
Fans have been growing increasingly angry with the board over the way the club is being run behind the scenes, and they have quickly projected some of that onto their new boss after some difficult early results.
The 48-year-old is already under heavy scrutiny at Celtic, especially considering that O’Neill had the team on such an impressive run of form prior to his departure.
However, Warnock feels that Nancy hasn’t necessarily been helped by the success that his predecessor enjoyed.
“It’s difficult up there,” the former Cardiff and Leeds boss said on talkSPORT (12 December).
“There are so many headlights looking right at you as soon as you take over. But I don’t suppose it helped him (Nancy) that Martin (O’Neill) did a very good job.
“When you read some of the players’ reports, they loved Martin because when you’re getting on a little bit like us, you concentrate on putting your arm round players and telling them what they’re good at, not what they‘re not good at.
“You don‘t bamboozle them with tactics. To come in and change the formation after they’d won seven out of eight games, I just felt it was a case of ‘I’m going to show them what I’m doing.’
“When I was told that Nancy was wearing green trainers, I laughed my head off because you just don’t do that up there. Somebody should have pulled him about it really.”
Wilfried Nancy has 27 games to avoid unwanted Celtic history
Some Celtic fans are already calling for Nancy to lose his job just two games into his tenure and it could quickly become a very difficult few weeks for the new man if results do not swiftly improve.
The ex-Columbus Crew boss could easily find himself in genuine danger of the sack if the pressure continues to mount, despite how little time he has had to make an impact on the team.
John Barnes is currently the shortest-serving manager that Celtic have ever had, as he was sacked in February 2000 after just seven months in charge.
The Liverpool legend took charge of just 29 games during his time at the helm at Parkhead, meaning that Nancy must still survive at least another 27 if he wants to avoid taking that unwanted record.
Suggestions of him losing his job are undoubtedly far-fetched at the moment, but that 29-game mark will feel miles away for Nancy after the start that he has endured.